


But Can the Future Look Bright?

by Loveislove87



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: AU, Angst, Canon compliant to some degree, M/M, Post 1x13, some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 12:45:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18992923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loveislove87/pseuds/Loveislove87
Summary: The group has fallen apart in the wake of Max's death and Michael's decisions.  They reconnect after finding another facility but can they save what they find?





	But Can the Future Look Bright?

He had been beckoned.   And by Kyle Valenti no less.

As he pulled up to Isobel’s house, he ran through all of the possibilities as to why they’d need to meet.   If the group needed to communicate, a text or occasional phone call had always been enough.  

Fuck, he hoped it wasn't an intervention. 

Michael had been having a rough few months.  His relationship with Maria had faded after she started asking some pretty spot on questions  and h e hadn’t wanted to reveal the other-wor l dly part of himself to her.  Being able to keep that boxed away was a large part of what helped him enjoy their relationship.  But with a spiffy new hand and all of her friends acting suspicious all the time, it didn’t take long for her to start getting curious.   And to stop taking Michael's shit.

So, once again, Michael Guerin was alone.  And, once again, he wasn’t handling it well.  He threw himself into researching how to help Max, he and Liz going a bit crazy with too much caffeine ,  a lack of sleep  and a constant low hum of panic .  He avoided the Pony, opting to drink himself to sleep most nights alone.  Isobel couldn’t understand why he was slipping so badly, rightfully pissed that he didn’t have his shit together most of the time , but she had been around to pick Michael up far more than she ever should have and he was always grateful .  

But no  one c ould understand.  He had visions and nightmares of his mother being tortured and then killed because  of his own  impulsiv ity .  He imagined Jesse Manes, kidnapping and experimenting on Isobel, hurting Liz just for some information.   He saw Max, unmoving on the dirt, deciding that Liz’s happiness was more important than his own.  And Alex.  Always Alex.

It  all  haunted him whether his eyes were closed or not.  

So  research and booze, with a shot or four of acetone, took the pain away.  Even if it was just for a few hours.

But now here he was, sitting in his truck,  far more sober than he’d like,  about to find out what new fucking problem they were going to have to deal with.

“There better be booze and snacks,  Iz ,” Michael announced as he walked in the door , his swagger back in place to keep everyone unaware of how broken he actually was .  A quick scan of the room showed him the usual suspects, Isobel, Liz, Rosa and Kyle.  He plopped on the couch, hat abandoned on the cushion next to him ,  and sunk as far down as he could.

Maybe he could sneak a nap in.

“Don’t be a dick, Michael.  This is serious.”

He didn’t know how she did it.  Isobel’s home was still  impeccable.   Spotless and stylish, everything in  its  place.  And she continued to look amazing.  Make-up and hair perfect, lovely dress and heels, looking like she stepped off of a photo shoot.

Most days he felt like he couldn’t get out of bed.

He leaned his arms on his knees, running a hand through his now greasy hair.  He honestly wasn’t sure when he’d showered last.

“Sorry.  I’m all ears.”   So  sue him, he loved a bit of sarcasm.

Kyle stood up, taking control of the conversation.  Michael would never admit it, but he was slightly impressed by Valenti now.  He had quietly taken down Jesse Manes while  still  maintaining  the  moral high ground, he had been so supportive of Liz and Rosa and he’d even become a friend to Iz.  

Michael was s elf-aware enough to know he was s till having a hard time letting go of the high school shit.

“We were doing research, the usual, looking into alien profiles, surveillance video, that kind of stuff, and we found this.”

He handed Michael a picture and immediately he felt the bile rise in his throat.  

“What the fuck?” He whispered.  His finger traced the outline of a little girl, sitting on the floor of a cage, playing with some toys.  

Maybe she was four.

“What is this, Valenti?”  

Kyle looked at his feet.  “It’s a new facility we found.  Just like Caufield but the security is insane.  We don’t know much, just that there aren’t any other aliens being held there, at least not right now, but she’s got a security team that rivals the FBI.”

Michael’s hands began to shake.  They were torturing kids now?  Keeping them like animals?  Did they force aliens to reproduce?  

“Jesus Christ.”  Michael handed Liz the photo.  He leaned his head against the back of the couch and covered his eyes with his forearm.  Maybe this was just an acetone dream.

“ So  what’s the plan then?  What are we supposed to do?”  Liz looked  awful,  color drained from her face.  

Valenti shrugged.  “That’s why I’m telling all of  you.   I don’t know about you guys but I  kinda  feel like it’s up to Michael and Isobel to decide what to do now.  I’m on board to help however I can but I think it should be their decision.”

Liz and Rosa nodded, with Rosa mumbling “I agree.”

Isobel sighed and moved to sit next to Michael, putting his hat in her lap.  Resting her head on his shoulder, she spoke so quietly, Michael thought he’d missed it.  “A kid shouldn’t be in a cage, Michael.”

She wiped her eyes quickly, slightly smearing her mascara.  “We need to try to get her out of there.”

Michael nodded.  Clearing his throat in an attempt to remove the lump that had formed, he looked up to Valenti and asked, “so what would the grand plan be?  We storm the building and hope we don’t get killed?”

Valenti let out a little laug h that held very little humor .  “Nah.  We have a plan.   Alex ?”

Michael’s breath caught and his heart stopped.  His head whipped to the side where Valenti had indicated  to see  Alex sitting, practically in the dark in the corner of the room, behind Michael.  He had no fucking idea he had been here.

Alex looked like a different man.  He had grown a  beard,  his hair was long er  and he lost weight.  He looked  sick and  exhausted.

Michael felt like he was looking in a mirror.

They hadn’t seen each other for months now, and with good reason.  Michael hadn’t just told Alex that he was going to try a relationship with Maria, that he thought he could love Maria.  That would have been too straight forward and simple.  Too close to fair for Alex.  No, to make sure Alex stayed away for good, that he’d hate Michael, he’d convinced Alex that he didn’t love him.  Said that he wasn’t sure if he’d ever loved him.

He’ll remember the look on Alex’s face for the rest of his life.

In that moment, Michael had been in agony.  He’d lost his mom and countless others like himself, he’d lost Max, he’d met Rosa, was overwhelmed by Liz’s instability and was the only one left to keep Isobel together.  

Maria could help him breath without reminding him of everything wrong in his life.  

When he’d finally gotten home after that absolute shit day, he found Alex outside, worry creasing his face.  Alex wanted answers.  Was he okay?  Where had he been?  What happened?  

Michael had just snapped.

Everything about Alex reminded him about everything awful that had happened to him.   So  he pushed, as hard as he could.

And holy shit did it work.

Michael had been proud of  himself for all of five minutes,  that he had finally let Alex go.  That he could admit it would never work and that Alex would be better off without him.   That was until th at  look on Alex’s face was all he ever saw.  The regret he felt, practically as soon as the words were out of his mouth, was suffocating him.

But then Alex had literally vanished.  It seemed no one knew where he was.  Michael had panicked at first, thinking he’d been hurt or worse, until Valenti finally confirmed that Alex had gone away for a while, to get some space.

That had been about six months ago.

Since then, Max had been put back in the pod while they tried to figure out what was next.  Rosa had been staying with Kyle, Isobel working to get strong enough to warp an entire town into believing a dead girl walking again was normal.  And, apparently, Alex had been here the entire time working on getting more answers.

But why?

Alex cleared his throat and stood up slowly, as though he was in pain.  Kyle moved a bit closer, offering some support.

Something twisted in Michael’s gut.  What the fuck had happened?

“So I have a plan to get us in there but I don’t know yet how to get us out.”  He cracked his knuckles and rubbed a hand over his eyes.  His voice sounded hollow and raspy.  Nothing like the strong, in-command tambour he normally spoke with.  “There’s a physician on staff there who isn’t military and her contract is coming up next month for renewal.  I’m going to alter some documents so that they state contracts can only be renewed once.  That would leave Dr. Meyers unable to be rehired and they’d need to start a search.  I’ve already created a fake background for Kyle, showing way more pediatric experience and some discreet contract work with the government.  He’ll look really appealing.”

Isobel scoffed.  “Okay.   So  let’s say Kyle gets the job.  He’s going to just walk out with the only prisoner there?”

Alex shook his head.  “I have some really specific information I’ll need Kyle to acquire for me but I don’t think it’ll take long.  Just basic stuff like exit locations, access codes, things like that.  The biggest piece of the puzzle is how they lock down her powers.  If we can figure that out, disarm whatever it is, then Isobel and Michael can do their thing and we can get her out.”

Alex steadfastly refused to look at Michael.  Michael had moved every which way to try making eye contact with Alex but to no avail.  

Liz bit her fingernails, anxiety radiating off of her.  “Kyle, what do you think about all of this?”

He just shrugged.  “These projects destroyed my family, Alex’s family and the aliens who might have been their family,” he indicated to Isobel and Michael.  “That’s just a kid in there and God knows how she even came to be.  This shit has to stop.  Now.”

“Well I’m in.”  Everyone turned to Isobel who stood up and moved closer to the center of the room.  She turned to Alex with a heat in her eye that clearly made him uncomfortable.  “Am I right that you’re going to be running this entire thing?  Everything we do, you’ll be calling the shots.  Am I right?”

Alex nodded, refusing to look away.  “You know you look like death.  How are you supposed to keep all of us safe?”

A blush rose to Alex’s cheeks with a look that Michael recognized immediately as shame.  Michael stood to intervene but before he could Valenti had stepped in between the two.

“Back off, Evans.  He’s been working on nothing else for half a year.  He’s ready.”

Alex put a hand to Kyle’s arm, moving him slightly out of the way.  The twist in Michael’s gut grew stronger.  Alex and Kyle had clearly gotten closer.  What else had Michael missed?

With a deep sigh Alex said, “I’m up for it.  I won’t let you down again.”

“Fine.  Let us know when you have the job, Valenti.”  And with that, Isobel headed upstairs and away from the group.

Rosa and Liz left with Kyle, Rosa clearly trying to convince Liz to just relax when they got back, not continue to work.  

That left Michael and Alex alone.  Alex who still wouldn’t  look  at Michael.

Michael took a deep breath.  He wasn’t sure what he was going to say but he knew he had to say something.  

“ Alex I-”

“I have something of yours.  It’s in the car.”  With that Alex headed out of the house and towards his car.  Michael followed in confusion.  He chose not to comment on the significant limp Alex was walking with.

Alex popped open the trunk and pulled out a backpack.  He handed it over to Michael and turned to climb into the jeep when he was stopped by Michael’s hand on his bicep.

“Why are you doing this, Alex?  I-I thought you were gone, away from here and safe and happy.  But, what?  You’ve been cooped up somewhere this entire time?  Did you never even leave Roswell?  Why?”

Alex looked up, meeting Michael’s eye for the first time.  

What Michael saw broke his heart.  There was nothing there.  It was like  Alex’s  spark had vanished.  He used to be able to look into Alex’s eyes and know exactly what he was feeling; they could communicate without words.  That connection was gone now.

“Because my family and I owe you and they sure as hell won’t be paying up so I will.”  

He moved into the  car,  Michael frozen in place by the shadow of the man before him.  

“After we get that kid out and after that,” he motioned to the heavy bag in Michael’s hands, “maybe I’ll finally be paid up.”

With that, he pulled away, leaving nothing but more questions and dust in his wake.

Michael carefully opened the bag and audibly gasped when he saw the large chunk of glowing ship he’d been looking for.

He rubbed his face, desperately trying to hold back the tears.  Alex was just a shell.  He was empty.  Had Michael done that?  Had something else happened that turned Alex cold?  The ship piece meant so little to him now.  His brother was here.  His sister was here.  An alien child was here.

Alex was here.

He fucked everything up but he’d fix it now.  He had to.  

He’d get the answers somehow.

::

**Author's Note:**

> Saw this as a prompt on Tumblr and wanted to give it a try. Not sure how long it'll be yet. Stop by and say hi at scottt190 :) Thank you for reading!


End file.
